A journey into self
Based in San Francisco, Marina Valente's works represent an extension of her own self-exploration and introspective reflection, bringing to life through visual storytelling the shared fascination humans have had (and experienced) for centuries with mind, body, and ego.
Her work frequently pulls from her own neurodiverse patterns and behavioral fabric, as a means to connect viewers with ever-so-common but often hard-to-articulate challenges which all humans face in addressing behavioral and mental health. Often placing emphasis on specific themes, point-in-time events, and behavioral episodes in storied unification to address the broad-range impacts that such themes, events, and episodes can have within and throughout our lives, as well as in the lives of others.
Her works often bridge together such stories by transforming a range of expressions exemplified by color, movement, texture, balance, and space. Much like the mind, her works often embrace and exemplify transitions between highly fluid, rhythmic brush strokes to overtly structured patterns to create multi-dimensional topography.
It's an important reminder that mental and behavioral health not only impact the person affected, but also those we love, care for, and aim to have successful and meaningful relationships with. While truth resides in the fact that mental and behavioral health may be unique from person-to-person, it does not mean that the feelings, experiences, and conflict which humans are individually confronted with in managing through these experiences are - these are the experiences and visual stories which are told throughout Marina's work.